Oct 11, 2013

I have been to about 20 garbage disposal calls in the last 3 months. I have only replaced one, and that was today, so it prompted me to write this. Most of the time a garbage disposal has just gotten something in it that is binding it, or there is another problem that is easily repaired rather than replaced. This is a good thing cause they sure seem to have gotten expensive in my last 15 years of doing this. I used to get them for $50 and now the cheap ones are $85... but I digress.

If you flip the switch, and nothing happens, check first a small red button on the bottom of the disposal. This is a motor overheat switch, which trips when the motor gets hot. Push the button back in to reset, and check to see if that solved the problem.

If you flip the switch and there is a hum noise coming from the disposal, but it is not working, turn the switch off right away so you don't overheat it. Take a disposal wrench (a silver allen wrench) that is sometimes found in the cabinet under the sink, as they come with disposals, or you can get one from the hardware store for about $5.00.

With the switch off, insert the allen wrench tip into a same sized hole in the bottom center of the garbage disposal under the sink, and turn the wrench back and fourth to try to loosen what is caught in the disposal keeping it from turning. Most of the time just loosening it is only part of it, then you need to (with switch off) reach your hand in and remove what is stuck. Use caution doing this as it has been my experience that glass is a prime culprit, followed by screws, and any other plastic, metal, or whatever you thought came up missing about a week earlier. If you are able to remove carefully anything in the disposal, you can then, once your hand are out of the way, try again and repeat this process until the sound of the disposal running sounds normal again, or like it usually does, and not grinding.

If you flip the switch and there is no noise, and the reset botton is not tripped, check the plug and cord for power. Usually just a GFCI needs to be reset, or a tripped breaker.

If the disposal is corroded through, and leaking, or if you turn with the wrench, and it is difficult to turn with nothing caught in it, only then will you need to replace it with a new one. Happy repairing, and feel free co contact me with questions, or leave comments.

Oct 10, 2013

Had a call today for replacing a kitchen faucet, bathroom faucet, and shower head. All 3 fixtures were barely dribbling with no water pressure. I took off shower head and faucet aerators, and cleaned white debris out. Pressure was fine after that. Rather than spending money to replace fixtures that will only clog up again, I took the time to drain and flush the water heater. This can be a common problem in older water heaters, especially with hard water and no water softener. The water heater cooks the minerals right out of the water and over time the water heater can litterally fill with debris that will clog lines and fixtures, and also can cut down on the heating efficiency.

6 to 10years is the standard expected life of a water heater. Like many things, there is no exact answer. They can last 15 or 20 years, or 6 might be all you get. How well its built is only part of the equasion. The water and minerals, how high the temperature is set, and regular maintenace can all affect how long it will last. Regular maintenance including flushing and inspecting the tank once a year can be a great help to the tank lasting longer, as well as alert you to problems prior to them causing any damage to the plumbing fixture throughout the house.

Oct 5, 2013

It was a busy week. Wright Way Contracting, LLC. completed several lists for turns on several different single family homes for several different property management companies here in the St. George area. From Commercial work at TJ Maxx to sprinkler valves... "September Grass" stole the week, with 5 valve repairs or replacements, several sprinkler repairs and replacements, and 2 overall irrigation system checks. Its starting to cool off, and it was a beatuful week for the outdoor work. Seems a little late in the season for sprinkler adjustments, but its pretty nice right now. The things to start thinking about to be ahead of the game for the season is heater startups and checks, new air filter, smoke detector batteries, and over the next month or two... getting the swamp coolers shut down and covered, and covering and turning off water to exposed pipes for the upcoming winter months to avoid broken pipes. We can help with this so give us a call.

Oct 1, 2013

New to the blogging world! James here with Wright Way Contracting, LLC.. Hoping to figure out how all of this social networking, blog site, and websites work. We specialize in all repairs, maintenance, turns, work orders, and construction for property management, real estate professionals, property owners, home owners, and associations. We do commercial, residential, and multi-family. We want to not only offer theses services but share our information and ideas from many years of experience in the property management and contracting industries. We were licensed general building contractors in California, then for the last 7 years in New Mexico, and now we are a new business licensed in Utah. Thanks for welcoming us, and hopefully this blog site going forward will be a great link for us and all followers to communicate and share ideas and information that will keep all of us more informed and educated on the many things we have all learned along the way in this industry, so we can all make fewer of the same mistakes, and all be more productive with our home improvement, property management, and contracting ideas and practices from now on.